Mobile devices now outnumber humans: Report

There are almost 7.2 billion people on Earth but over 7.2 billion active SIM cards. The number of SIM cards is also increasing five times faster than the human population.
( Michael Coghlan )

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Reports reveal that, for the first time, the number of active mobile devices in the world are more than the global human population.

Many of the active mobile devices are termed as "smart," and an increasing percentage of these devices are only able to communicate with each other.

According to the world population counter of the U.S. Census Bureau, there are almost 7.2 billion people on Earth. The population grows by around 2 people per second, which is equivalent to 1.2 percent per year.

According to the active mobile connections counter of mobile analysis company GSMA Intelligence, on the other hand, there are now over 7.2 billion active SIM cards in the world. In addition, the figure is increasing more than five times faster than the human population.

"No other technology has impacted us like the mobile phone. It's the fastest growing manmade phenomenon ever -- from zero to 7.2 billion in three decades," said Kevin Kimberlin, chairman of Spencer Trask & Co.

Spencer Trask & Co. assisted in pooling funding for Millicom, the cellular pioneer company that was the only startup selected by the Federal Communications Commission to show the viability of the technology of cellular. Millicom is currently working to deliver mobile connections to certain developing nations through the aid of bigger companies such as Facebook.

"To me, it was miraculous," said Millicom director Leonard Gubar regarding the mobile phone. "Now today, you can do everything with a mobile phone."

While there are currently more active SIM cards than humans, only a little lower than 50 percent are mobile subscribers, meaning that there are about two active SIM cards per person in the world.

However, what adds so much to the active SIM card numbers are the active connections between machines that currently number to about a quarter of a billion. These connections are used in objects such as medical appliances, cars, freight packages and smart utility meters.

The other side of the story, however, is that a little more than 50 percent of the world population do not have access to a mobile phone, which is currently able to provide a wide variety of services to people in practically every aspect of modern life.

GSMA Intelligence data also showed that all the connected devices and people are leading to revenue of $1.1 trillion in 2014, which is an increase of 3.75 percent compared to 2013.

However, with the invention of new messaging services and apps such as Facebook Messenger and Viber, along with free communications through Wi-Fi networks, the average revenue per user is declining at $12.15, a decrease of 3.97 percent compared to 2013.

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